WESTERLY - Washington Trust Bancorp Inc., parent company of The Washington Trust Co., has posted a net income of $8.9 million, or 54 cents per diluted share, for the third quarter, a 15 percent increase from the $7.58 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, during the same quarter of 2011.

The third quarter was also an improvement of 2 percent when compared to the $8.71 million, or 53 cents per diluted share, reported for in the second quarter 2012.

The return on average equity for the third quarter of 2012 was 12.02 percent, an improvement from the 10.67 percent reported for the third quarter 2011, and slightly better than the 11.98 percent reported in the previous quarter ending June 30, 2012.

The return on average assets for the third quarter of 2012 was 1.17 percent, better than the 1.03 percent recorded at the same time last year and similar to the 1.16 percent reported for the second quarter of 2012.

Total loans for the quarter were $2.26 billion, a 7.5 percent increase for the $2.09 billion reported for the quarter ending Sept. 30 2011, and a 2 percent increase when compared to the $2.21 billion reported for the second quarter 2012. The bank attributed the improvement to an increase in commercial lending.

Total deposits equaled $2.23 billion on Sept. 30, an increase of $170 million, or 6 percent from the same period in 2011, and an increase of $104.2 million, or 5 percent from the second quarter.

“Washington Trust’s strong operating performance led to another quarter of record earnings,” Joseph J. MarcAurele, Washington Trust chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. “While all of our business lines performed well, total deposits and total loans reached the highest levels in our 212 year history.”

“These results reflect our success at expanding our branch and mortgage banking footprint, generating new commercial banking and wealth management business, and continuing to build our reputation as one of the premier financial institutions in New England,” MarcAurele said.

Noninterest expenses for the quarter were $2.23 million, a 4 percent increase from June 30, 2012 and a 16 percent increase from Sept. 30, 2011, a reflection of debt repayment penalties and pay and benefit increases.

Noninterest income for the third quarter 2012 equaled $16.9 million, up 31 percent from Sept. 30 2011, and 5 percent from the second quarter 2012. The increase was due to strong mortgage banking revenues and merchant processing fees.

Loan loss provisions and the allowance for loan losses for the third and second quarters in 2012 were relatively the same.

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